Medical miracles

We have more hospital supplies than we can use - but the cupboards are often bare in developing countries. Sophie Bond meets those trying to balance things out.

It has the makings of a good thriller: working underground in a secret location, surrounded by torture-like instruments, and boxes with mysterious labels while an antiquated air-conditioning unit clicks and churns in a corner.
Tony Wansbrough is the volunteer stores manager at the Auckland headquarters of Medical Aid Abroad, where surplus medical supplies are collected and redistributed to those who need them most.
The retired doctor asks us to keep the location secret because they've been robbed in the past.
Tony says the basic aim of the non-profit organisation is recycling. "We get goods that are unwanted from hospitals. We sort and shelve them and people who need them in places overseas can select what they want."
The rabbit warren of storerooms, provided courtesy of the Auckland District Health Board, is stacked with thousands of items - from tongue depressors and spinal needles to intra-catheters and surgical masks.
The equipment comes from major hospitals in the upper North Island, as well as hospital supply companies and the Disability Resource Centre.
"Hospitals may have anticipated a demand that didn't eventuate or maybe they are changing their systems and things are no longer necessary," Tony says. "It's heartbreaking for people to just have to dump the stuff they can't use."
A retired paediatrician is doing the stocktake. He is among the staff of 12 volunteers, many of them retired from the medical profession. The volunteers collect boxes of goods which are then unpacked, checked and stored.
Overseas medical missions write to Medical Aid Abroad listing their needs. Although most requests come from the Pacific Islands, the latest is from Nepal where a group is trying to set up a birthing centre.
Tony is full of stories about how the organisation is making a difference.
"If a surgeon is going to do a week or two's mission to the islands they may come here and pick up some stock. We've got a gynaecologist on his way to the Solomons wanting sutures and such.
"At the end of last year we had a big order from a group called Friends of Fiji, who are working with the Fiji Government. They built an operating theatre and did 70 surgeries and we provided about $70,000 worth of equipment.
"There is a doctor who is concerned about a little island group in the Solomons with 5000 residents but no regular shipping. The kids don't get vaccinated there and there's no electricity to run a fridge and store the vaccines. So we've just sent him an LPG-powered fridge."
As for her own involvement, Tony says: "I retired too quickly. "I needed something to do, so knowing of the Medical Aid Abroad rooms I started going there once a week just to keep things clean and over time found myself the manager."
Ken, a retired paediatrician in his 80s, says of Tony: "She is the absolute wonder of this establishment."
The building and staff come free but there are costs - for packing tape, cartons, markers and petrol - that must be covered through donations. "And we would like my job to be a paid, part-time position," says Tony.
"Sustainability is an issue for us and that would make the operation sustainable. It needs a young, energetic person."
Give your support
Medical Aid Abroad takes donations of items such as wheelchairs and crutches. For info email amaanz@xtra.co.nz or see www.maa.org.nz